


Rock Me Gently

by tinx_r



Category: Riptide (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-08
Updated: 2012-11-08
Packaged: 2017-11-18 05:55:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/557622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinx_r/pseuds/tinx_r
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes Cody needs some time out. And Nick's the one to give it to him...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rock Me Gently

 

_"This is the first chance we've had  
to relax for two days!"  
\--Cody Allen, The Hardcase_

Bone weary. Down so deep he can't open his eyes, can't move his limbs. Cody knows he ought to try; knows he has to; but somehow his body knows different.

One part of his mind's alert, prodding him awake with little success. He should be up, he's not hurt, not sick. Not even overworked. Two cases put to bed, a couple charters, what he'd call an easy month.

Somehow he gets himself upright and into his sweats, topside and into the day. It's late, the sun already high, Murray already chattering and tapping from the forward cabin.

There's coffee made, Cody can smell it, and right now that's enough. He drops down at the table in the salon and inhales, breathing in caffeine, wondering how quick it's gonna work.

Nick finds him a little later -- ten minutes, an hour, maybe two, Cody can't tell. Just that the sharpness in Nick's voice jolts him out of the depths and into the sunny California present. He grabs the table for support and tries for cheerfulness.

"What's wrong?" Nick has him all at once, arms and muscle and strength, everything Cody can't be right now.

Cody gives a wordless sob and turns into him, giving up, giving in. Nick's strength is boundless, big enough for two. Nick's heart holds Cody too. Cody's known that a long time now.

"I can't..." Cody's boneless in Nick's arms, laid bare. Too tired to be afraid. Too tired for coffee. Too tired to even make it back to bed.

Nick makes it for him. Awareness is fickle, but when it returns, slow and rich, he's in his bunk. Warm, wrapped in blankets, still tired. But the rock of the Riptide says for sure they're out on open water, the thrum of her diesels a perfect lullaby.

Next time Cody opens his eyes, the engines are silent. The Riptide's still, surrounded by the chuckling silence of the ocean. Nick is asleep on Cody's shoulder, naked body draped over him. This is peace, pure and perfect -- a tiny cocoon cushioned by miles of empty water. He and Nick at its heart, stripped of the trappings of civilization.

Telephones, television, conversation. Today's world, crowding in close, carving its slice until there's nothing left. Cody nestles into Nick, recovering, refueling.

They've been short on cases but long on ladies -- Murray's ever-hopeful friends, the Contessa girls, the new girl on staff at Straightaways. Between them all, it's been a heavy month, and Cody wonders, not for the first time, just how much anyone believes the facade.

It's getting harder and harder to uphold.

Word gets around; no girl on the pier expects to get lucky on the Riptide, Cody knows that much. Not unless she's headed to the forward cabin. But they keep on trying, army boys through and through. Nick's got a date for Saturday, a green-eyed brunette who looks to Cody like a panther, and Cody was supposed to make another attempt with Tammy.

Cody sits up slow, smiling as Nick blinks sleepily and rolls over, lying across his lap. "I was just thinking, we got dates for Saturday night. What day is it?"

Nick quirks a crooked smile, reaches up and flicks Cody's nipple. "Sunday."

Cody's smile turns into a grin, and he lays back down. He's lost a day, not for the first time, but with Nick, that's not as important as it maybe ought to be. "Damn."

Nick rolls on his side, sliding a leg between Cody's. "Sure would'a been if we'd stayed in port," he agrees cryptically. "How you feeling, big guy?"

"Like we oughtta stay out here all the time."

"You know I'd do that if I thought we could get away with it."

"You think those girls will ever talk to us again?"

"Don't care if they do." Nick's rubbing Cody's back, soft slow sweeps Cody never wants to stop. "Do you?"

Cody closes his eyes, slides closer to Nick. Wraps himself into Nick's arms. "I got an idea. Let's make sure they don't."

"Then who're we gonna date?"

"Each other." Cody opens his eyes, looks into the bruised hope in Nick's face. "I'm serious. Are you ready to quit girls?"

"Ready?" Nick chokes. "I been waiting ten years or more."

"Then let's do it. You with me?"

"You know I am, Cody. With you all the way."


End file.
